An Oregon actress facing murder charges was cast in a horror movie last year, and apparently acted out a scene that was grimly similar to a real-life incident.
The Mail Tribune reports that Aisling Tucker Moore-Reed, 30, is accused of shooting her uncle, Shane Moore, by the doorway of a Jackson County home in 2016. Moore-Reed claimed she acted in self-defense.
Authorities initially charged Moore-Reed with manslaughter. She made bail shortly after her arrest.
In 2018, while out on bail, Moore-Reed landed a role in “From the Dark,” a horror movie scheduled for release in 2020. When the production team hired Moore-Reed to star as the lead role of Valerie, they reportedly had no idea of her criminal past. She was using the alias “Wynn Reed” when she auditioned.
“We met her in March of last year when she came to audition for our film,” the production team said. “We had absolutely no idea about who she was or her circumstances. Our circles never overlapped as our theater and film experience was solely in Grants Pass and hers in Medford.”
The crew started filming in April 2018. Playing as “Valerie,” Moore-Reed killed in an eerily similar fashion to cellphone footage authorities found hidden in her dresser at home. Authorities said Moore-Reed recorded herself while shooting and killing her uncle.
“There’s a key scene where she shoots somebody in a similar fashion,” a source who worked on the film told CBSLA.
In September 2018, investigators obtained the cellphone footage. Authorities arrested Moore-Reed five days after the film wrapped and upgraded her charges to murder. She pleaded not guilty.
According to the Washington Post, the fatal real-life shooting occurred while the family disputed over an Oregon house that belonged to Shane Moore’s elderly mother. Shane Moore reportedly had a notary certify his mother’s signature on the house deed. The same day, Moore-Reed shot him.
Shane Moore allegedly assaulted the suspect in 2016, which subsequently resulted in Moore-Reed obtaining a restraining order against him. The man violated the order when he walked into his mother’s home while Moore-Reed was there.
“He’s coming into the house, god*****it,” Moore-Reed said in the video. “You son of a b****. Get out of here.”
Shane Moore’s sister and Moore-Reed’s mother, Kelly Moore, who is a lawyer and best-selling author, was also in the home at the time.
Within minutes, Moore-Reed shot Moore in the chest as he stood inside the doorway. A neighbor attempted CPR on the victim while Kelly Moore called 911 and said her brother had been “threatening us for months.”
Afterward, while still holding her cellphone while recording, Moore-Reed began to cry.
“I didn’t mean to shoot him in the chest. Oh my God, if he survives, he’s going to kill us all………………He’s not dead? F**k!
Shane Moore, however, was indeed dead. He died at the scene, according to first responders. Kelly Moore said that her daughter acted in self-defense.
“My daughter didn’t do anything wrong,” Kelly Moore said. “I was there, and she did not do anything wrong.”
After reviewing the cellphone footage, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Greif disagreed. She ordered Moore-Reed to remain behind bars on murder charges.
“Mr. Moore was barely even in the door when he was shot, and he was shot in the chest, and it was pretty close range,” Greif said during a January court hearing. “She was angry that he wasn’t dead. And to me, that says that kind of nailed down the evidence for me.”
Meanwhile, Siskiyou Productions, the team that created the horror film, posted an apology on Facebook for the film’s delay, which was initially scheduled to premiere on Halloween this year.
“Please, do forgive us. We are trying our best to make a release of this film happen, but we don’t want to hurt anyone in the process……We thank you for your patience and hope you enjoy all of the hard work we have done.”
Moore-Reed’s murder trial is scheduled for next month.
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[Feature Photo: Aisling Moore-Reed/Police Handout]
